Month: March 2017

Wikileaks Thursday released trove of new documents from their CIA leak, outlining how the agency attacked Apple products.

Wikileaks is nicknaming this posting “Dark Matter.”

Dark matter is the second batch of leaks from the CIA archive Wikileaks has nicknamed Vault 7, largely describing hacking techniques the agency used. So far all of the techniques have been for targeted surveillance (not bulk surveillance, like the NSA would conduct) and many require the CIA to have physical access to devices to attack them. The documents range in age, and Apple announced after the first release of documents that many of the security flaws mentioned in that archive had long since been patched.

One user manual released in Dark Matter describes “Sonic Screwdriver” – a technique taking its name from Dr. Who’s utility tool – as a way to use a modified Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet network adapter (or, potentially, other modified hardware) to load malware while a Mac is booting. That document is dated 2012.

Another document describes “DarkSeaSkies,” a hacking technique that lurks in the firmware of MacBook Airs version 1.1. Firmware controls hardware that is not controlled by an operating system (firm, because it’s in between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ ware). The DarkSeaSkies documents, dated 2009, describe similar implants for iPhones, but the document is dated 2009, and may not be a still working attack for either.

Other documents provide historic information for “DerStarke,” a firmware attack leaked in the last set of Wikileaks docs. The documents in this posting describe it and related malware in its 2013 form, before the 2016 form already released.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials have been more concerned that the documents were stolen than the sensitivity of any of the documents released.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb) said that Wikileaks head Julian Assange should spend the rest of his life in “an orange jumpsuit” following the first document dump.

A U.S. ally used a $3 million Patriot missile to shoot down a $200 drone purchased from Amazon.com, an American general has revealed, questioning the economic consequences of the operation.

Gen. David Perkins told the Association of the United States Army’s Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama that the strike was made by a “very close ally.”

“A very close ally of ours was dealing with an adversary that was using the small quadcopter UASes and they shot it down with a Patriot missile,” he said, stopping short of actually naming the country in question.

“Now, that worked, they got it… that quadcopter that cost $200 on Amazon.com did not stand a chance against a Patriot.”

While Perkins admitted the ally “won” when it came to the “kinetic exchange ratio,” he questioned whether the move was economically wise.

“I am not sure that it is a good economic exchange ratio, in fact, if I am the enemy, I am thinking ‘I am just going to go on eBay and buy as many of these $300 quadcopters that I can and expend all these Patriot missiles,’” he said.

He went on to explain that there are more cost effective ways to combat such drones.

“There’s ways to get at this with electronic warfare, with cyber,” he said.

Facezam can identify people by matching a photo of them with their Facebook profile. All users have to do is take a picture of someone on the street and run it through the app, which will tell them who it thinks the person in the photo is.

“Facezam could be the end of our anonymous societies,” said Jack Kenyon, founder of Facezam. “Users will be able to identify anyone within a matter of seconds, which means privacy will no longer exist in public society.”

Facezam scans billions of Facebook profile images a second, which it accesses through a database for developers, until it finds a match. It claims to be able to link most photos with a profile on the social network within 10 seconds.

The app, which will launch on iOS on March 21, has been tested on more than 10,000 images to date with a 70 per cent accuracy.

Facebook can delay the launch, which said Facezam violates its privacy policies.

“This activity violates our terms and we’re reaching out to the developer to ensure they bring their app into compliance,” said Facebook.

Facebook reviews apps that use its data before they go live to check they adhere to its policies. Apps that collect users’ data or use automated technology to scan Facebook are forbidden from launching without permission from the social network.

Facezam refuted that the app violates Facebook’s terms. “We’ve looked into this, and are confident the app won’t be violating Facebook’s terms,” said Kenyon.

The technology could help reduce crime by making everyone identifiable, Kenyon said, adding that the public implications of the app couldn’t be predicted. “There may be a mix of positives and negatives,” he said.

‘The end of anonymous society’

Unfortunately there is no way for the privacy conscious to remove themselves from the app, which can use its identification software on anyone with a Facebook profile.

Its accuracy does however drop to 55 per cent when a person’s face is obscured in either the photo of them or in their Facebook profile image. Factors that affect its success include obscuring hair, sunglasses, a large hat or odd angle, Kenyon said.

The inspiration for Facezam comes from Shazam, the music lookup service that can tell users the name and artist of a song after hearing just a few bars. Facezam said its legal consultants weren’t concerned that the name infringed on Shazam’s copyright.

Facial recognition software is already used by internet giants such as Facebook and Google to group photos together and suggest who should be tagged in them. It is also used in some law enforcement databases and by companies such as Tesco to map customer demographics.

Hidden away in Denton County, Texas, is a private racetrack retreat for Toyota executives and VIPs.

The site of the Toyota executive retreat in Denton County includes a racetrack and buildings between Hilltop Road and FM1830 on the outskirts of Argyle.

If you blink, you might miss the street sign for the tree-lined country road south of Denton. The two-lane Hilltop Road leads you past mostly modest houses, small farms and rural businesses along the border of the town of Argyle. While tucked away among the trees and stock ponds, construction is underway on one of the most hush-hush developments in North Texas.

International auto giant Toyota is turning a patch of farmland into a multimillion-dollar, ranch-style executive retreat for its top local executives and visiting VIPs.

The spread covering more than 75 acres — which extends all the way to FM1830 — includes a motor track, horse stables, guest houses and barns. >> Continue Reading <<

Burger robot can grill a perfect patty, but it doesn’t provide service with a smile.

The next time you place an order at a fast food joint, you could see a robot behind the counter. Flippy is an AI-driven kitchen assistant that can flip burgers and place them on buns, and it debuted today at a CaliBurger restaurant in Pasadena, California.

Flippy was developed by Miso Robotics and CaliBurger’s owner, Cali Group. It uses cameras, sensors and deep learning software to locate ingredients in a kitchen without needing to reconfigure existing equipment. Not only does it position and flip the patties, it tracks their temperature and cooking time too. When the burgers are done, it alerts a human cook, who applies the cheese and other toppings.

“Much like self-driving vehicles, our system continuously learns from its experiences to improve over time,” said David Zito, CEO of Miso Robotics, in a statement. Eventually, Zito said Flippy can be trained to help with other kitchen tasks, like frying chicken, cutting vegetables or plating.

Self-ordering kiosks are already replacing workers at fast food chains like McDonald’s and Wendys. But, Miso Robotics said Flippy is designed to work alongside human staff. Once its “probation” ends in Pasadena, it will roll out to more than 50 CaliBurger locations over the next two years. When that happens, some people could be reassigned to the dining room to engage more with customers, while others will be trained to operate their new assistant.

“Tasting food and creating recipes will always be the purview of a chef,” Zito recently told TechCrunch. “And restaurants are gathering places where we go to interact with each other. Humans will always play a very critical role in the hospitality side of the business given the social aspects of food. We just don’t know what the new roles will be yet in the industry.”

Facebook has begun using artificial intelligence to identify members that may be at risk of killing themselves.

Facebook said its algorithms would flag messages expressing suicidal thoughts

The social network has developed algorithms that spot warning signs in users’ posts and the comments their friends leave in response.

After confirmation by Facebook’s human review team, the company contacts those thought to be at risk of self-harm to suggest ways they can seek help.

A suicide helpline chief said the move was “not just helpful but critical”.

The tool is being tested only in the US at present.

It marks the first use of AI technology to review messages on the network since founder Mark Zuckerberg announced last month that he also hoped to use algorithms to identify posts by terrorists, among other concerning content.

Facebook also announced new ways to tackle suicidal behaviour on its Facebook Live broadcast tool and has partnered with several US mental health organisations to let vulnerable users contact them via its Messenger platform. >> Continue Reading <<